InBody 770 Body Composition Analysis

Weight loss is a common preoccupation; surveys of adult populations worldwide have shown that up to 74% are trying to lose weight and up to 42% are focused on maintaining weight.[1] The most commonly reported reasons for weight loss attempts are to improve wellbeing and fitness, to stay fit, and to improve self-esteem.[1] The most frequently reported motive for trying to maintain weight was to improve health and prevent future diseases, followed by to improve wellbeing, to improve fitness condition or staying fit, to improve appearance, and to improve self-esteem.[1]

What most people fail to realize is that it is not body weight or weight loss per see that that gives these benefits.[2] Improvements in health, fitness and appearance requires loss of excess fat, and for most people also an increased muscle mass.[3-12] Your body weight does not tell anything about your body composition, i.e. how much body fat and muscle mass you have.[5, 13, 14] Therefore, to track your progress when starting a training program and to eat healthier, you should regularly check your body composition.

Reasons to check your body composition

The bathroom scale has become a cultural icon for health/fitness and obesity. This is unfortunate because the number on the scale in isolation is pointless. It also naturally fluctuates both up and down, which can cause unnecessary frustration and disappointment, or a false signal of success if the weight you have lost is mostly muscle mass. Here are important reasons for you to regularly check your body composition (and stop worrying about your body weight): [15]

1. It provides an individualized starting point on which to base goals for improvement in health and fitness.

2. It tells you if you are “over-fat” and would benefit from fat loss.[16]

3. It tells you if you have “muscle deficiency” and would benefit from resistance exercise training that increases muscle mass.[5]

4. It gives you a more accurate estimation of your resting metabolic rate.[17, 18] Resting metabolic rate is included in the InBody 770 results sheet.

5. It provides an individualized progress meter that tells whether your food diet and/or exercise program is working. A study of new gym members confirmed that improvements in body composition go undetected in may people if relying solely on body weight changes.[19]

6. It lets you track your fat loss and muscle mass gain together with improvements in fitness and biochemical health parameters, such as your cholesterol profile, blood fats, blood sugar, blood pressure, hormones, etc. This will give you the total picture of your health and fitness status, and show how changes in your body composition over time affects metabolic and cardiovascular risk factors. Over time as you get older, this will provide valuable information.

8. It keeps your motivation alive when your body weight doesn’t budge, by showing that in fact you have lost fat and gained muscle mass (which may cancel out on your body weight reading and show zero body weight change).

InBody 770 Body Composition Analyzer

There are many body composition devices, ranging from cheap and grossly inaccurate consumer gadgets to expensive sophisticated laboratory body composition assessments. At Ageless Forever we are pleased to offer body composition analysis with InBody 770, which is a research grade body composition analyzer.

InBody 770 is a relatively new standing direct segmental multi-frequency bioelectrical impedance (BIA) system with eight-polar electrodes.[20] Unlike conventional BIA equipment, which often takes only partial measurements and therefore relies upon formulas to estimate whole body composition, this technique is based on envisioning the human body as composed of five interconnecting cylinders and takes direct impedance measurements from the various body segments. Of all the BIA devices developed over the years, this eight-polar segmental multi-frequency BIA system is superior in the assessment of body composition.[16]

While BIA as a general technique for body composition assessment has been criticized for its inaccuracy of analyzing muscle mass.[21] However, this inaccuracy was for another BIA system using only 50 kHz single-frequency.[22]

All BIA devices use at least one electric current set at a specific frequency to measure body composition. In the past, this frequency was traditionally set at 50 kHz. Some devices today continue to use this single frequency.

However, beginning the early 1990s, research began to accumulate suggesting that single frequency devices set at 50 kHz did not accurately predict changes in total body water, and that the use of multiple frequencies – multiple currents set at a different frequencies – was a superior method in terms of accuracy. InBody 770 uses multiple frequencies of up to 1000 kHz, and has been shown to have excellent agreement with DEXA (dual energy X-ray absorptiometry) – the laboratory reference standard, for the estimation of lean body mass in both men and women in a large general middle-aged population.[23] The accuracy of multi-frequency BIA applies even in overhydrated people (such as dialysis patients), in whom it was found high correlation with DEXA measured lean body mass.[24] In addition, a recent study found that values for body fat and lean body mass in body segments and the total body as analyzed by standing segmental multi-frequency BIA are highly correlated with the DEXA values, even in male wrestlers.[25]

InBody versus DEXA

DEXA is the laboratory reference standard against which other body composition techniques are evaluated.[26] Because DEXA is primarily available at hospitals and imaging centers, where it is used to measure bone mineral density and diagnose osteopenia and osteoporosis, other body composition analyzers have been developed that are more easily available and more affordable to the general public.

As outlined above, the new standing segmental multi-frequency bioelectrical impedance (BIA) system with eight-polar electrodes has been validated against DEXA and shown good agreement with DEXA-derives values for body fat and lean mass.

A potential drawback with DEXA is that it is a source of a small level of radiation. Even though the radiation dose from a DEXA scan is very small, it has been suggested that people should not do more than 4 DEXA scans per year. BIA, which sends completely harmless electric currents through the body, is totally free of radiation.

InBody 770 versus Tanita MC-980

A similar BIA device to InBody 770 is Tanita MC-980, which is also a segmental multi-frequency with 8 electrodes. Which is most accurate?

A newly published study compared InBody 770 and Tanita MC-980 head-to-head, and how well their body composition values agreed with values derived from the DEXA reference method. It was found that InBody 700 is more accurate than Tanita MC-980.[27]

Frequently Asked Questions

The InBody Test lasts between 15 seconds and 120 seconds, depending on the model being used.

How do I prepare for the test:

• Use the bathroom

• Maintain the same testing conditions as your first test (for ex. do the test around the same time of day)

• Avoid eating or wait two hours after a meal

Avoid testing if before the test, you:

• Exercised strenuously

• Used a sauna, steam room, or bath

• Consumed diuretics such as caffeine, alcohol, and medication

• Have a fever, cold, or chill

Will I feel the electrical currents during the test?

For the average population, the electrical currents sent through the body during an InBody tests are too low to feel. However, there is a small possibility that individuals with tactile sensitivity may feel a slight sensation.

What factors can affect the accuracy of my test results?

Changes in body composition reflect body status, which may be affected by factors such as disease, nutrition, hydration, and medication. Accessories such as jewelry may interfere with the electrical conductivity. Improper posture will also affect test results.

It is recommended to maintain the same testing conditions from test to test to produce high data reproducibility and comparability.

How to get started

Call us at Ageless Forever 702-838-1994 (or submit your contact info using the form in the side bar) to make the first step towards your health and fitness goals by scheduling your InBody body composition analysis.

14. Meeuwsen, S., G.W. Horgan, and M. Elia, The relationship between BMI and percent body fat, measured by bioelectrical impedance, in a large adult sample is curvilinear and influenced by age and sex. Clin Nutr, 2010. 29(5): p. 560-6.

26. Ackland, T.R., et al., Current status of body composition assessment in sport: review and position statement on behalf of the ad hoc research working group on body composition health and performance, under the auspices of the I.O.C. Medical Commission. Sports Med, 2012. 42(3): p. 227-49.